Overview
Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust (formerly Keystone Investment Trust : KIT) aims to generate long term capital growth with the aim of the NAV total return exceeding that of the MSCI AC World Index in Sterling terms by at least 2% per annum over rolling five-year periods and contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world by investing in the equities of companies whose products or services make a positive social or environmental impact.
In February 2021, shareholders voted to approve the change of mandate, name change and change of manager from Invesco to Baillie Gifford. The trust has moved AIC sectors too – from UK Equity Income to Global. It is worth bearing in mind that its investment performance pre February 2021 relates to the previous mandate and manager.
you can access the manager’s website here
KPC : Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust
Research History
-
03 Nov 2022 8 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – November 2022
Investment Companies Monthly Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and abrdn November 2022 Monthly | Investment companies Winners and losers in October 2022 Many equity markets recovered some of the ground lost in September. The swift departure of Liz Truss and her unfunded tax cuts helped the UK stock market and sterling. North America […]
-
07 Apr 2020 5 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – April 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
-
19 Dec 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – December 2018
QuotedData’s economic roundup – December 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any […]
-
11 Jun 2018 2 min read
QuotedData’s Economic round up – June 2018
QuotedData’s Economic round up – June 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or […]
-
11 Dec 2017 1 min read
QuotedData’s economic round up – December 2017
QuotedData’s economic round up – December 2017 – is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or […]
-
14 Sep 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – September 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – September 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of August 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. September Investment Companies Roundup Winners and losers in August Ashmore Global’s […]
-
10 Apr 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – April 2017
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. April Investment Companies Roundup
-
07 Dec 2016 1 min read
QuotedData’s round up of views on the global economy – December 2016
QuotedData’s collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from comments made by chairman and managers of investment companies. december-economic-and-political-roundup
News
-
19 Mar 2025 1 min read
Keystone Positive Change provides an update on wind up
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced that shareholders have approved the proposals for the scheme of reconstruction and members’ voluntary winding-up of the company. Implementation of the scheme remains subject to, among other things, shareholder approval at the adjourned second general meeting to be held on 28 March 2025. The board announces the following elections in […]
-
20 Feb 2025 1 min read
Keystone scheme details published
Keystone Positive Change is pushing ahead with its cash or rollover scheme. As previously announced, each ordinary shareholder will be entitled to elect to receive, in respect of some or all of their shares, new shares in the Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund and/or an uncapped cash exit (subject to the cash option discount of […]
-
14 Feb 2025 1 min read
Edinburgh Worldwide rejects Saba, monumental waste of time and money
At today’s meeting of Edinburgh Worldwide shareholders that was requisitioned by Saba Capital, Saba’s proposals were overwhelmingly rejected by 63.8% to 36.2%. The turnout at the meeting was 64.7%. Edinburgh Worldwide’s chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent said: “Edinburgh Worldwide’s shareholders have spoken: they have rejected Saba Capital’s proposal for a fundamentally different strategy based on fundamentally different […]
-
10 Feb 2025 2 min read
Keystone Positive Change relaunches wind up proposals
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced that it is relaunching its plans to liquidate the trust – offering shareholders the option of a cash exit at a 1% discount to the residual NAV or the opportunity to rollover into the Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund (click here to see our coverage of the original proposals), […]
-
3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 February 2025 – BSRT, BGUK, SVM, BHMG/BHMU, CLDN, KPC, LABS
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 February 2025: Baker Steel Resources Trust (BSRT) has published a portfolio update and its NAV as at 31 January 2025 (89.1p per share), a decrease of 0.6% from the last published NAV at 31 December 2024, largely due to falls in the share prices of Tungsten West Plc and Metals […]
-
03 Feb 2025 1 min read
Saba loses Keystone Positive change too!
Keystone Positive Change says that at its general meeting, over 60% of the votes cast were against Saba’s requisitioned resolutions. Excluding the votes Saba cast in favour of its own requisitioned resolutions (representing 1,650,762 votes and approximately 38.87% of the votes cast), only a further 33,845 votes, representing just 0.80% of the votes cast, were […]
-
28 Jan 2025 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 January 2025 – BSIF, KPC, SGRO, PCTN
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 January 2025: Bluefield Solar (BSIF) will pay its first quarterly dividend of the new financial year on 7 March. The 2.2p dividend is the first of what is targeted to be 8.9p for the full year (up from 8.8p), which is expected to be covered by earnings post debt amortisation. […]
-
24 Jan 2025 2 min read
ISS recommends shareholders vote “AGAINST” Saba’s resolutions for Keystone Positive Change
The independent proxy adviser ISS has published its recommendation in relation to the upcoming requisitioned general meeting for Keystone Positive Change (KPC) in which it recommends that KPC shareholders “VOTE AGAINST” all the resolutions proposed by Saba Capital. ISS states that Saba Capital has not presented a compelling case for change, let alone a case […]
-
21 Jan 2025 2 min read
Glass Lewis reiterates vote “AGAINST” all Saba’s proposed requisitioned resolutions for KPC
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has noted the publication of the voting recommendation from Glass Lewis, the independent proxy advisor, in relation to the company’s general meeting to be held on 3 February 2025 at 12 noon. Glass Lewis recommends that KPC shareholders vote “AGAINST” all the proposed requisitioned resolutions at the general meeting. In its […]
-
17 Jan 2025 4 min read
Saba: the view from the boards
Boaz Weinstein, head of New York-based hedge fund Saba Capital, pulled no punches when discussing the boards of investment trusts in his recent webcast. They were “obstinate”, a “boys’ club”, protecting their own interests, “part of an ecosystem of greed taking fees away from the pensioners.” Their actions verged on “almost malpractice”, distributing misinformation to […]
-
16 Jan 2025 3 min read
Fight back against Saba! – let us show you how
Saba Capital, a US-based hedge fund, has been on the offensive against the UK’s investment trust sector. Having built substantial stakes in seven investment trusts, ranging from 20% to just shy of 30% of the trusts’ outstanding shares (a key level that would require them to make a bid for the trust), it is using […]
-
13 Jan 2025 2 min read
Keystone Positive Change presses pause on capital return pending Saba vote
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced that it intends to open and immediately adjourn general meeting scheduled for 27 January 2025, that was meant to allow shareholders to vote approve a scheme of reconstruction that offers shareholders an uncapped cash exit in February 2025 and/or the option of a rollover into a more liquid fund […]
-
06 Jan 2025 5 min read
Keystone Positive Change “appalled by Saba’s actions and conduct”
Following the receipt of a requisition request from Saba Capital Management, L.P. (click here to see our original coverage of this) Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has published a notice for the requisitioned general meeting alongside a unanimous board recommendation to vote against all of the requisitioned resolutions. As is explained more fully below, KPC’s chair, […]
-
27 Dec 2024 5 min read
QuotedData’s review of the year 2024
This is the last of our weekly emails for 2024. We hope that you have been finding them useful. 2024 has been a year of setbacks and shrinkage for the UK investment companies industry, topped by the cynical and self-serving attack on seven trusts by US corporate raider Saba Capital (there will be much more […]
-
23 Dec 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 23 December 2024 – RNEW, KPC, SOHO
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 23 December 2024: Ecofin US Renewables Infrastructure (RNEW) has published a circular in relation to its proposed conditional disposal of its investments in US distributed solar assets (DG portfolio – click here to read more on this) and its decision to pursue a managed wind-down of its business. Subject to shareholder […]
-
19 Dec 2024 3 min read
Trusts acknowledge Saba requisitions – aim to see off vulture investor
Baillie Gifford US Growth says: “The board considers these proposals to be fundamentally without merit, and in contravention of shareholder interests as a whole. A further announcement will be made in due course by the company accordingly, relating to the posting of a notice of a general meeting and an accompanying circular in which the […]
-
18 Dec 2024 10 min read
Saba Capital launches campaign “to deliver value” to shareholders of seven UK-listed investment trusts
Saba Capital Management has announced that it has requisitioned the boards of directors of Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust USA), CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income (CYN), Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWI), European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT), Henderson Opportunities Trust (HOT), Herald Investment Trust (HRI) and Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust (KPC) to convene general […]
-
06 Dec 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 6th December 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today on our YouTube channel. In this week’s show, James Carthew and Richard Williams covered the week’s top stories: Keystone Positive Change (0:23) Golden Prospect Precious Metals (4:36) Home REIT (6:09) Andrew McHattie spoke about the big moves in share prices and discounts over November 2024: Major rises over the […]
-
2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 December 2024 – KPC, ESO, GPM, STS, ADIG
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 December 2024: Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has published a circular in relation to its proposal to wind up, which was announced on 30 September (click here to see our coverage of that), and also discussed in its results for the year ended 30 September 2024 (click here to read our […]
-
27 Nov 2024 2 min read
Underperformance the final nail for Keystone Positive Change
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced its annual results for the year ended 30 September 2024. Over the year, the company’s NAV total return was 2.2% compared to a total return of 20.4% for the benchmark index. The share price total return for the same period was 13.5% as the discount narrowed from 14.0% to […]
-
30 Sep 2024 2 min read
Keystone Positive Change proposes wind up
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) is proposing that it be wound up with shareholders offered a cash exit in full but, reflecting the board’s confidence in the long-term prospects for Baillie Gifford’s “Positive Change” strategy adopted by the company in early 2021, shareholders will also be offered the option to rollover into Baillie Gifford Positive Change […]
-
13 Sep 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 13th September 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today on our YouTube channel. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: Aquila European Renewables (0:19) Gulf Investment Fund (3:35) Keystone Positive Change (6:47) JPMorgan Emerging EMEA Securities (9:47) This week’s interview was with Jon Forster from Impax Environmental Markets – watch it again here.
-
09 Sep 2024 1 min read
Keystone Positive Change proposes unitisation
Keystone Positive Change’s board has identified a need for some kind of corporate action that addresses the size of the company, the low liquidity in its shares and the discount. It also wants to enable shareholders to retain exposure to a global impact strategy. The board will consult more widely with shareholders and to explore […]
-
14 Jun 2024 3 min read
Baillie Gifford funds – Think different
QD view: The overlap between the portfolios of Baillie Gifford’s range of global investment trusts is limited, yet investors are treating them as quite narrow variations on a theme and this is throwing up opportunities for those able to appreciate the nuances within the range. It has undoubtedly been a difficult period for the Baillie […]
-
08 Dec 2023 5 min read
QD view – your vote will count in Arb fight
Discounts in the investment trust sector are almost double their average[1], with the combination of cost disclosure rules and rising interest rates creating widespread selling pressure. It is perhaps not surprising that this has caught the attention of activist investors who spot an opportunity. Saba Capital is the latest arbitrageur on the block, thought to […]
-
28 Nov 2023 1 min read
Long term potential for Keystone Positive Change
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced its annual results. Over the year to 30 September 2023, the company’s net asset value per share total return was 7.0% compared to a total return of 11.0% for the comparative Index (in sterling terms). The share price total return for the same period was 6.0% as the discount […]
-
12 Dec 2022 2 min read
Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust annual results
Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust (KPC) recently released its full year results for the financial year ending 30 September 2022. Over the 12-month period KPC reported a NAV total return of -35.2% and share price total return of -43.3%. This compares to the -3.7% generated by KPC comparative index, the MSCI All Country World Index. […]
-
30 Nov 2022 4 min read
Gearing and stock selection drives significant underperformance for Keystone Positive Change
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced its annual results for the year to 30 September 2022. During the period, KPC provided NAV and share price total returns of -35.2% and -43.3% respectively, massively underperforming its comparative index, the MSCI All Country World Index, which provided a total return of -3.7%. The poorer share price total […]
-
15 Jul 2022 4 min read
Future impact
What does the next decade have in store for impact investing? Kate Fox and Lee Qian, joint managers of Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust, tell Iona Bain about four big areas that could solve some of the world’s toughest challenges The value of an investment, and any income from it, can fall as well as […]
-
30 Jun 2022 3 min read
The digital classroom
Technology is making education more accessible and relevant. Thaiha Nguyen, an investment manager with Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust and the Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund, explores the companies changing the way we learn. The value of an investment, and any income from it, can fall as well as rise and investors may not get […]
-
26 Nov 2021 6 min read
Keystone Positive Change reports on transition year
Keystone Positive Change (KPC) has announced its annual results for the year ended 30 September 2021, a period that marked a new beginning for the trust as its management moved from Invesco to Baillie Gifford and it adopted its positive change mandate. Over the year KPC’s NAV total return was 17.3%, compared to a total […]
-
22 Jan 2021 3 min read
QD view – Reasons to be cheerful
Keystone Investment Trust has been around for over 50 years. From 2003 it was managed by Mark Barnett at Invesco Perpetual. He handed over the reins to his colleague James Goldstone in 2017. The trust was run with Invesco’s ‘value with a bit of spice chucked in’ style. For much of the period under Mark’s […]
-
11 Dec 2020 3 min read
QD view – UK clear-out heralds better times
QD view – UK clear-out heralds better times The AIC’s UK All Companies sector is set to shrink as shareholders in Jupiter UK Growth choose between cash or a rollover into an open-ended fund, Invesco Perpetual Select UK Equity moves to the UK equity income sector following its planned merger with Invesco Income Growth and […]
-
1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 11 December 2020
QuotedData’s weekly news show 11 December 2020 Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on Youtube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: Keystone Jupiter US Smaller Companies RTW Venture Watch it again here We’ll be back on January 8th. This week’s […]
-
07 Dec 2020 3 min read
Keystone set to appoint Baillie Gifford as manager in proposed shift to global mandate
Keystone (KIT) announces that it has decided, subject to contract and to shareholder approval, to appoint Baillie Gifford & Co Limited (Baillie Gifford) as its manager using its ‘Positive Change’ investment strategy, a global equity strategy which seeks to provide attractive investment returns while contributing towards a more sustainable and inclusive world. Structural challenges led to […]
-
27 Mar 2020 1 min read
Keystone tweaks gearing policy
Following recent market turbulence, which has pushed Keystone’s gearing up, its board has announced that it has decided to amend its gearing policy “with the intention of safeguarding shareholder value as far as possible”. Under the new policy, the portfolio manager may not make net purchases at times when net borrowings exceed 15% of net […]
-
23 Dec 2019 2 min read
Cash in your KIT – Keystone announces buyback
Keystone Investment Trust (KIT) has announced that it proposes to buy back up to 1,200,000 of its own shares in the market. This is equivalent to 8.9% of the issued share capital as at the time of the announcement. KIT’s board says that it will do this when it deems this to be in the […]
-
29 Nov 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 29 November 2019
In QuotedData’s other news 29 November 2019 PME Africa has increased its loan from Optas Gmbh from €400,000 to €600,000 while it tries to free up cash at its account in Tanzania. EIH says it has consulted its shareholders and a vast majority are in favour of de-listing its shares in the interests of saving money. […]
-
27 Nov 2018 4 min read
Volatility hinders returns at Keystone
Volatility hinders returns at Keystone – Keystone Investment Trust (KIT) posted a NAV return of 0.0% for the year ended 30 September 2018, compared to last year’s NAV return of +7.8%. Share price total return for the year was also down compared to 2017 (share price total return for 2018 was 0.8% and 2017 was […]
-
28 Nov 2017 3 min read
Keystone portfolio shaken up under James Goldstone
Keystone portfolio shaken up under James Goldstone – Keystone has published results for the year ended 30 September 2017. It lagged its benchmark, the All-Share index, over the period, returning 7.8% in NAV terms against 11.9% for the index. The discount widened from 8.4% to 12.6% and so the return to shareholders was 3.2%. The total […]
-
17 Mar 2017 1 min read
New manager for Keystone
With effect from 1 April 2017, James Goldstone will become the portfolio manager of Keystone Investment Trust plc. James Goldstone (39) has been a UK equities investment specialist for 15 years and a member of the Invesco Perpetual UK equities team for 5 years, working closely with and alongside Mark Barnett. In October 2016, James […]
-
29 Nov 2016 1 min read
Keystone struggles
Keystone says its total return to shareholders over the year to 30 September 2016 was 1.3%, based on the share price with dividends reinvested. Whilst this was a marginally positive return it was some way behind the benchmark which returned 16.8%. The total return on the underlying NAV was 5.6% with debt at par value and […]
-
11 May 2016 3 min read
Oil underweight holds back Keystone
Keystone has published its interim accounts for the six months ended 31 March 2016. The company’s shares gave a total return of -3.6% over this period. The underlying net asset value per share (with debt at fair value) gave a total return of +1.2%. These compare with a total return by the company’s benchmark for performance measuring […]
-
30 Nov 2015 3 min read
Keystone profits from tobacco exposure
Keystone Investment Trust has published its accounts for the year ended 30 September 2015. On a total return basis (i.e. including income), the FTSE All-Share Index returned -2.3% over the year. Keystone however managed a return on net assets of 6.4% and a return to shareholders of 7.3%. The base dividend was increased slightly from […]
-
12 May 2015 3 min read
Keystone outperforms, says little threat to tobacco holdings from plain packs
Keystone’s interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2015 show the fund’s net asset value delivering a total return of 7.8% – ahead of the 5.3% return generated by the FTSE All-Share Index. The return to shareholders was 7.2%. The dividend was maintained at 18p per share. The report says holdings in Reynolds […]
-
09 Jul 2014 1 min read
Keystone : KIT – fee changes
Keystone, managed by Mark Barnett (pictured), has announced that the management fee on the fund will fall from 0.8% of market capitalisation to 0.6%. This change is effective from July 1 2014. At the same time Keystone is changing the structure of its performance fee in a way that will make it slightly easier to earn […]
Upcoming Events
Videos
In The Press
-
21 Feb 2025 1 min read
Keystone Positive Change targets March wind-up
By Jennifer Hill, Citywire Investment Trust Insider, 20 February 2025: Keystone Positive Change (KPC), one of seven trusts that has defeated Saba Capital’s attempt to oust its board, has scheduled meetings to decide its fate next month. The £165m Baillie Gifford-run impact investment trust has published a circular formally reconvening meetings at which shareholders can […]
-
10 Feb 2025 1 min read
Investment trust insider on the end game for Saba
Investment trust insider on the end game for Saba – James Carthew: Saba’s wrong, discounts aren’t all bad Saba Capital’s defeat at six of the seven investment trust votes it requisitioned doesn’t mean the activist will give up, but it needs to work with boards rather than against them We are nearing the end game […]
-
04 Feb 2025 1 min read
Two more ‘Miserable Seven’ trusts vote to reject Saba threat
Patrick Hosking, Financial Editor, The Times, 3 February 2025: A London-listed investment company used by investors to back potential US tech winners has emphatically seen off a threat by the New York activist hedge fund group Saba Capital. The £750 million Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust said shareholders had voted by 65.6 per cent to […]
-
03 Feb 2025 1 min read
Saba takeover rejected by Baillie Gifford US Growth and Keystone Positive Change investors
By MIKE SHEEN, This is Money, 3 February 2025: Saba has been handed a second and third consecutive defeat at the hands of UK investment trust investors, after Baillie Gifford US Growth and Keystone Positive Change shareholders rejected the hedge fund’s proposals. The pair are two of seven trusts targeted by Saba’s plans to overhaul […]
-
1 min read
Victory for two Baillie Gifford trusts as shareholders reject Saba’s ‘destructive proposals’
By Emma Wallis, News editor, Trustnet, 3 February 2025: The boards of Baillie Gifford US Growth and Keystone Positive Change achieved decisive victories today as Saba Capital Management’s proposals to unseat them were defeated. The majority of Baillie Gifford US Growth trust’s shareholders made their voices heard, with votes cast representing 78.4% of total voting […]
-
1 min read
Saba Capital loses double vote on Baillie Gifford trust takeovers
Elliot Gulliver-Needham, Investment Reporter, CityAM, 4 Feb 2025: Saba Capital launched a campaign against seven UK trusts in December. Saba Capital has lost two more votes in the US hedge fund’s campaign to take over a variety of UK investment trusts, leaving its campaign looking increasingly unlikely to succeed. Two trusts run by Baillie Gifford, […]
-
25 Jan 2025 1 min read
How YOU can cash in on the investment trust revolution
By ANNE ASHWORTH, Daily Mail, 25 January 2025: The investment trust sector, the custodian of £269 billion of the nation’s savings, can trace its history back to 1868. But 2025 is set to go down in the annals of this industry as the year when it faced what some saw as an existential threat. The […]
-
23 Jan 2025 1 min read
Saba shows no signs of stopping despite Herald defeat as ‘the battle is still far from over’
Linus Uhlig, Investment Week, 23 January 2025: Manhattan-based activist hedge fund Saba Capital said it “remains committed to putting shareholders’ interests first” and “ultimately rehabilitating” a “broken” UK investment trust sector, despite two thirds of Herald investment trust (HRI) shareholders’ votes cast against all eight of its resolutions. At Wednesday’s (22 January) requisitioned general meeting […]
-
22 Jan 2025 1 min read
Herald shareholders overwhelmingly vote against all eight Saba proposals
Linus Uhlig, Investment Week, 22 January 2025: Shareholders of Herald investment trust (HRI) have voted heavily against Saba Capital’s eight proposed resolutions at the first of seven requisitioned general meetings to vote on the changes put forward by the US activist hedge fund. Over two thirds (65.1)% of the total votes were cast against the […]
-
21 Jan 2025 2 min read
Retail Votes The Key To Deciding Investment Trusts’ Future
By Najiyya Budaly, Law360, 21 January 2025: Investment trusts on the London stock market should work at persuading retail investors that they have viable plans to increase value for shareholders if they want to defend against activist shareholders moving in to seize control, lawyers say. Analysts in the sector are watching after moves by a […]
-
1 min read
Saba Capital: Does the US hedge fund have a point on UK investment trusts?
By: Elliot Gulliver-Needham, Investment Reporter, CityAM, 21 January 2025: US hedge fund Saba Capital triggered fury and an industry-wide defensive effort when it launched an activist campaign against seven UK investment trusts last month. The Manhattan-based hedge fund, led by Boaz Weinstein, has laid siege to the trusts, accused them of failing to perform, and […]
-
1 min read
Investment trust insider poses 10 questions to Saba
Investment trust insider poses 10 questions to Saba – James Carthew: 10 questions Saba ignored at ‘scripted’ seminar Saba’s recent webinar was no more than a choreographed attempt to pull the wool over investors’ eyes. Here are the key questions Boaz Weinstein refused to answer Last Tuesday, Saba held a webinar attended by a raft […]
-
16 Jan 2025 1 min read
Investment trusts at crunch point
James Crux, Shares Magazine, 16 January 2025: The normally sleepy world of investment trusts received a wake-up call just before Christmas with the publication (18 December 2024) of a shareholder letter by activist investor Saba Capital Management calling for change at no fewer than seven well-known funds.. ‘Initially Saba is proposing to replace the current […]
-
10 Jan 2025 1 min read
Friday Briefing: Where does activism end and independence begin?
Cristian Angeloni, Investment Week, 13 January 2025: As the financial services world was getting ready to shut their laptops, bring out the mince pies and get ready to celebrate the Christmas holidays and the New Year, US-based hedge fund Saba Capital had different plans in mind, as it unveiled some last-minute activism to end an […]
-
07 Jan 2025 1 min read
Keystone Positive Change investors urged to vote against activist Saba scuppering plan for investment trust
By MIKE SHEEN, This is Money, 7 January 2025: Keystone Positive Change investors have been urged to vote against takeover proposals from Saba Capital, after the activist hedge fund scuppered the board’s plans for the future of the company. Keystone Positive Change investment trust had been set to merge with Baillie Gifford Positive Change fund, […]
-
1 min read
Investment trust insider on Saba
Investment trust insider on Saba – Carthew: My objections to Saba’s plan and approach Our columnist says he is far from convinced by Saba’s activist campaign against seven trusts, many of which could see incipient recoveries frustrated. US arbitrageur Saba Capital has been investing in the UK investment companies market for a while now. It […]
-
19 Dec 2024 1 min read
Why one US hedge fund is taking aim at the UK’s biggest investment trusts
By: Elliot Gulliver-Needham, Investment Reporter, CityAM, 19 December 2024: A shake up could be coming for the UK’s investment trust industry after US hedge fund Saba Capital launched a campaign to topple the boards of seven different companies yesterday.. The New York-based hedge fund has been stalking the sector for some time but, despite attempts […]
-
1 min read
Activist Saba launches board and management coup at seven London-listed investment trusts
By MIKE SHEEN, This is Money, 19 December 2024: An activist investor is hoping to seize control of seven underperforming London-listed investment trusts after urging shareholders on Wednesday to sack their respective boards.. Saba has built stakes of 19 to 29 per cent in each of the trusts, which have suffered yawning discounts to their […]
-
18 Dec 2024 1 min read
Activist Saba unleashes campaign against seven investment trusts
Gavin Lumsden, Investment Trust Insider, 18 December 2024: After months of mystery over its intentions, activist Saba Capital today launched campaigns for change at seven investment trusts in which it is the leading shareholder with stakes of 19-29%. The New York based hedge fund manager has requisitioned general meetings at three Baillie Gifford trusts: Baillie […]
-
1 min read
US hedge fund takeover of investment trusts may be ‘positive’
David Thorpe, FT Adviser, 18 December 2024: US hedge fund Saba Capital is attempting to remove the boards of seven UK investment trusts, a move which could be positive for advisers’ clients, according to Iain Scouller, analyst at Stifel.. Each of those trusts has suffered performance issues in recent years and traded at wide discounts […]
-
1 min read
US activist looks to oust boards at seven investment trusts
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor,18th December 2024: US activist investor Saba Capital has called for the removal of board members at seven investment trusts in which it is the largest shareholder, owning stakes between 19% and 29%.. Saba Capital has called for general meetings to take place for each trust by early February, and […]
-
1 min read
Saba Capital launches campaign to replace seven investment trust boards
Christian Mayes, Portfolio Adviser, 18 December 2024: After months of curiosity around its intentions for the investment trust sector, activist investor Saba Capital has launched a campaign to replace seven investment trust boards. The US hedge fund has requisitioned the boards of Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust, CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income, Edinburgh Worldwide […]
-
1 min read
Saba slammed for ‘obvious flaw’ in strategy to oust boards of seven investment trusts
Linus Uhlig, Investment Week, 18 December 2024: Analysts have slammed hedge fund manager Saba Capital after it launched campaigns to oust the boards of seven investment trusts of which it is a major shareholder. Activist New York-based hedge fund Saba has requisitioned general meetings of shareholders at seven UK investment trusts to reconstitute their respective […]
-
1 min read
The gloves are off: Saba reveals its hand
By Emma Wallis, News editor, Trustnet, 18 December 2024: Saba Capital Management has published a letter proposing dramatic changes to seven investment trusts in which it is the largest shareholder. Its targets include three trusts managed by Baillie Gifford (Edinburgh Worldwide, Keystone Positive Change and Baillie Gifford US Growth) and two from Janus Henderson Investors […]
-
2 min read
US activist moves to oust seven investment trust boards
by Dave Baxter, Investors Chronicle, December 18, 2024: Saba Capital wants to remove the boards of seven investment trusts and enact measures it claims will deliver better shareholder value. The activist investor, which has built stakes for several months, called for general meetings to be held at Baillie Gifford vehicles Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA), […]
-
1 min read
US hedge fund targets Baillie Gifford in swoop on British trusts
Alex Ralph, Chief Business Correspondent, The Times, December 18 2024: An American activist investor has launched a campaign to remove the boards of seven UK-listed investment trusts, accusing some of delivering “disastrous” returns. Saba Capital, the New York-based hedge fund firm, issued an open letter on Wednesday calling on the boards to call a shareholder […]
-
28 Oct 2024 1 min read
Fund manager changes: which ones are paying off?
by Jennifer Hill from interactive investor, 28th October 2024: There are many reasons why a fund might get a new manager, with the retirement of the incumbent manager and poor performance being chief among them. While some investment houses have navigated the task of replacing a veteran fund manager with aplomb, others have failed to […]
-
22 Oct 2024 1 min read
Shuttered infrastructure trusts struggle in buyers’ market
by Val Cipriani, Investors Chronicle, October 21, 2024: Packing up the house always takes longer than you think. For investment trusts that have started the winding-up process, clearing the portfolio can be long and complicated, especially when illiquid assets need to be offloaded. Earlier this month, beleaguered infrastructure trust Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9), which is […]
-
17 Sep 2024 1 min read
Four investment trusts closed last week. How many more will go?
Last week, four separate investment trusts handed in their notice, announcing they would be shuttering.. The number of investment trusts has fallen to its lowest level in years for a number of reasons, including high discounts, pressure on small trusts, and ongoing issues around cost disclosure.. With a total of ten mergers announced so far […]
-
16 Sep 2024 1 min read
Investment trust insider on a shrinking sector
Investment trust insider on a shrinking sector – James Carthew: We might regret what’s lost in the trust bloodbath Four more investment companies – Aquila European Renewables, Ecofin US Renewables, Gulf Investment Fund and Keystone Positive Change – are heading for the exit. The bloodbath in the investment companies sector seems to be getting worse. […]
-
29 May 2024 1 min read
Will ‘activist investors’ turn these trusts around?
by Dave Baxter, Investors’ Chronicle, May 29, 2024: When Elliott Investment Management cut its stake in Scottish Mortgage (SMT) below 5 per cent earlier this month, it’s likely to have prompted a sigh of relief from the trust’s board.. The case for activists Activists are not always a helpful presence for other shareholders given that […]
-
27 Sep 2023 1 min read
Small investments trusts: which to back, and which to avoid
by Cherry Reynard from interactive investor, 27th September 2023: Small is becoming less beautiful in the investment trust world. Problems of wider discounts, poor liquidity and even – in some cases – weaker performance, have started to worry investors. Another headwind is that wealth managers often won’t touch investment trusts with less than £250 million […]
-
14 Jun 2022 1 min read
Bargain Hunter: Baillie Gifford trusts are cheap, time to buy?
by Kyle Caldwell, interactive investor, 14th June 2022: 11 Baillie Gifford trusts are trading on wider-than-usual discounts. We ask analysts whether this is an opportunity for brave investors to pick up bargains… With inflation levels soaring and interest rates on the rise, growth companies, including tech firms, have fallen out of favour. Instead, investors have […]
-
21 Jan 2022 1 min read
Trust discounts widen in 2021 as post-Covid euphoria is hit by new variants
Kathleen Gallagher, Investment Week, 21 January 2022: In 2021, equity investment trusts saw their discounts widen by a weighted average of 4.8%, according to figures from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) and Morningstar for Investment Week. However, when it comes to the individual winners and losers trusts swung drastically in both directions… Despite the […]
-
23 Dec 2021 1 min read
The Investment Trusts Handbook 2022: All Change, Please
JAMES CARTHEW explores when and why boards choose to change their fund manager. In my opinion, one of the greatest strengths of the investment companies industry is its system of governance. Boards of independent directors work for and on behalf of investors. Boards’ ability to fire underperforming managers helps to keep these managers on their […]
-
01 Dec 2021 2 min read
The global trusts on the biggest discounts or premiums relative to their history
Trustnet continues its study into which trusts have the most inflated valuations and biggest discounts relative to their five-year average, this time focusing on global investment trusts. By Eve Maddock-Jones, Reporter, Trustnet, 24 November 2021 Buying cheap trusts on a bigger discount than normal can be a lucrative way to make money over the long-term. Similarly […]
-
18 Jan 2021 1 min read
Big investment trust themes to watch in 2021
Big investment trust themes to watch in 2021 by Faith Glasgow from interactive investor | 11th January 2021 12:22 We highlight the trends and themes for investment trust fans to keep an eye on over the next year… Board activity One of the most significant themes of 2020 has been the run of manager changes, closures and consolidations in the […]
-
07 Jan 2021 1 min read
Questions of Trust
QUESTIONS OF TRUST In: Portfolio Adviser, The Professionals’ Guide to Value Investing James Carthew, Director, QuotedData If you believe last November’s bounce in value stocks heralds the start of a renaissance for the strategy, who are the potential beneficiaries in the investment trust sector? Last year turned out to be a bumper one for all […]
-
20 Nov 2018 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on Perpetual Income and Growth
Investment Trust Insider on Perpetual Income and Growth James Carthew: contrarian in me won’t sell Barnett’s trusts I am sure that most of us have things in our portfolios that we wish we had sold some time ago but, after a period of disappointment, we hang onto in the hope that they will come right. […]
